ntcp annual report 2013 2014
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Annual Report
2013 -2014
Registered in England: 04349864 693-695 Bristol Road South, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 2JT [email protected] 0121 411 2157
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Contents
Overview
3
Core Outcomes from Big Lottery Funding
4
Our year in numbers
7
Shop services
8
Projects and Events
9
Cycle South Brum
9
Culture Mash
10
Exemplar
14
Time Bank
16
Other Side of the Door
19
Bromford Community engagement project
20
Marketing and Media
21
End of Year Finance
22
The Coming Year
22
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Overview
This year the partnership has continued to go from strength to strength developing new
partnerships and extending the reach of our work to not only cover the Northfield town centre
area, but also the wider South Birmingham Constituency.
This report intends to inform of our core outcomes from the National Lottery but also our
developing wider scope of work which has been funded by outside funding streams.
We have worked to support over 12,000 people through the services in the shop, we have also
engaged over 11,000 people through our project work and events.
New partnerships have been developed with external stakeholders including Bromford Housing
Association, South Birmingham and Central CCG, Northfield Baptist Church, City Save and My
Home Finance.
We have extended the level of providers and services that we deliver from the NTCP shop
including a food bank facility, hub for advice and information, BVSC volunteer bureau, Aquarius
drug and alcohol service and extended financial provision through My Home Finance and the
City Save kiosk.
We are also a registered UK Online Centre providing basic IT training provision to combat digital
exclusion from some of the most vulnerable in society.
We have delivered several new projects including a community learning project focussing on time
bank rewards over 400 volunteers took part with over 4765 hours banked.
We have extended the age range of the young people that we work with through our Exemplar
project working and supporting 12 NEET young people aged 16-24 with training and apprentice
opportunities, 8 of which are now in full time work placements.
New providers in the shop have included Bromford Support, Royal British Legion, Severn Trent, and
Money Line.
As well as all of our service delivery from the shop we continue to deliver high quality events and
project work with a range of partners including Arts 50, Northfield Business Improvement District,
Bromford Housing Association and Northfield Eco Centre.
We have secured an extra £119,000 in external funding during this financial year which has come
from Birmingham City Council, Awards For All, NIACE, Community First, Community chest, and
Bromford Housing Association.
Revenue generated from room rentals has also allowed for the employment of another member
of staff.
We have worked with local community groups to develop resident groups and we have now
constituted two community groups who meet regularly.
We continue to work as a key stakeholder and are instrumental in the delivery of the Northfield
community stakeholders meeting which represents key community priorities to the district.
We would like to thank all of our funders and partners in their contribution and continued support
to the work of the NTCP.
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Core Outcomes from Big Lottery Funding
Core Outcome 1
Improve employability through facilitating access to training, encouraging volunteering and
enhancing self-confidence of individuals and groups.
Change Indicator Outcome
Target
How much change has happened so far?
The number of people
who will have volunteered
their time to gain new
organisational/
administrative skills at the
shop or community events
30 people by
the end of
the project
Through our time bank project we have over 400
volunteers on our books who engage in a whole
range of activity including project delivery, IT
support, and work on our community garden.
The number of people will
have attended a pre-
employment advice and
guidance meeting.
3000 people
by the end of
the project
802 people attended the National Career Service
for pre-employment advice. 640 people have had
appointments with NTCP staff setting up universal
job match accounts, email addresses and CV
support. Advance employment has seen 712
clients in total.
The number of people will
have attended a short
course on basic computer
skills.
50 people by
the end of
year 2
3162 people have accessed the computers for job
searching. 87 people have attended the UK Online
computer course. We have already met the
outcome for overall total for the end of the project
lifetime.
I owe a huge thank you to Northfield
Town Partnership for all the support I
had when I was briefly unemployed
......and the ongoing support I
received until I landed the job of my
dreams. Keep up the good work
ladies. You all do a brilliant job x
Message left on Northfield Town
Centre Partnership Face Book page
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Core Outcome 2
Improved financial stability in families through the provision of a credit union and promoting
this in areas of multiple deprivation.
Change Indicator Outcome
Target
How much change has happened so far?
An increase in the number
of people who save on a
regular basis from the most
deprived neighbourhoods.
50 people by
the end of
the project
492 people accessed Communisave credit Union
until it went in to liquidation in July 2013. My home
Finance has seen 567 clients.
A new partnership has been developed with
CitySave credit union and this has been widely
publicised at community meetings, events and in
house at the NTCP shop. Citysave have held 3
financial well-being days at the shop.
We continue to publicise credit unions as an ethos
for our customers and work with other agencies to
support clients.
Core Outcome 3
Improve Health and well- being of individuals by encouraging them to stop smoking and take up
healthier lifestyles.
Change Indicator Outcome
Target
How much change has happened so far?
The Number of people
who access stop smoking
service
1200 people
in the first
year
The number of people who have used the stop
smoking has double from last year, with 4223 people
using the Quit smoking service this year.
An increase in the number
of men referred from other
partners to the stop
smoking service
All of the
partners
working in the
shop to raise
opportunity
for referral to
all male
clients each
year of the
project.
The service is advertised widely in the local area
and display materials are on show in areas where
men congregate i.e. barbers and public houses.
The NHS stop services also were present at our week
long beach event at the beach which gave them
the opportunity to publicise their services with over
10,000 people.
Provide brief intervention
training with regard to
stop smoking to partner
organisations to enable
them to raise awareness
and use appropriate
referral pathways.
As required to
all providers
throughout
the project
The numbers for the stop smoking service have more
than doubled since the last lottery report; this year’s
figure of people seen is 3963. This figure shows what
a vital service the NHS is delivering in the Northfield
area.
The figures may indicate people’s financial hardship
through the current economic climate. They also
indicate that the service and location of the facility
is working well and easily accessible to local people.
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Core Outcome 4
Increase the understanding of people about how to become active citizens through volunteering
with community groups, at community events and at the shop.
Change
Indicator
Outcome
Target
How much change has happened so far?
The number of
people who will
have
undertaken
capacity
building
training.
10 people
each year
Through our time bank project we have over 400 volunteers on
our books who engage in a whole range of activity including
project delivery, IT support, and work on our community garden.
During our culture mash event last year people volunteered their
time and gained a wide range of skills which helped towards their
employability including stewarding, face painting, arts and crafts.
We also have a full time volunteer who has developed a
database to collate statistics for the purpose of reporting for the
shop.
The number of
people who will
have gained
employment as
a result of their
volunteering
experience.
10 people
by the end
of the
project
3 volunteers who have undertaken training have gained their SIA
licence and have gained employment as security guards.
Capacity training this year has taken place working with ‘The
Other Side of the Door’ group, Bromford residents, and the
development of Northfield Stakeholders meeting.
With ‘The Other Side of the Door’ group governance training has
been given to develop their skills as a committee, enabling them
to become more effective in managing meetings, applying for
funding and developing their articles of association. They are
now a fully constituted group delivery a range of activities to
members of the community. This training and development has
enabled them to deliver a great number of projects safely and
within recognised guidelines. There are ten members of the group
and they have delivered a variety of activities over the past year
these have ranged from card making to residential trips and
throughout this the volunteers have gained new skills and
confidence to grow.
Through our consultation work with Bromford Housing Association
a residents group has now been developed and again these
members have received training with governance and are now
a constituted group in their own right.
We have also worked closely with the local MP Richard Burden to
convene a Stakeholders Meeting with a range of community
partners to put a proposal together to look at a district plan to
address the cuts in the local area, this has now being forwarded
to the leader of the Council. This work has allowed smaller groups
in the community to have a voice to shape essential service
delivery to the Northfield Constituency without this work local
groups would not have had their views and representation put
across.
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0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1-1 computer help
Pre employmentadvice
Food Parcels
NHS Quit Smoking
Use of freecomputers for jobsearching
We have over 1000 Facebook
likes and over 400 followers on
Our Year in Numbers
Shop services used per month
755 people have registered as
new NTCP shop users this year;
Last year’s total was 730
We have over 400 volunteers
registered with the TimeBank.
They have taken part in lots of
different activities including
Northfield Carnival, Culture Mash,
Big tidy up, community garden, &
admin support.
That’s a total of 4675 hours
volunteered!
We have brought in an extra
£119,000 in funding.
These funds have been used
for our various projects and
events throughout the year.
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Shop Services
Food Bank
We operate as a food bank distribution centre for the whole of
south Birmingham, working in partnership with Life Line Food
Bank, the Trusell Trust and the Co-op. We also receive
donations from the CCG, the Job Centre and Bromford
Housing Association who collect on our behalf as part of
their corporate responsibility. We have distributed over 863
parcels from April 2013-March 2014 during the current year. As
part of this work food bank recipients also receive advice and
guidance and are referred to the many partners within the shop for
support.
We have noticed a peak in food bank usage during the month of July we think this is due to
families unable to access free school meals during the summer break.
Aquarius
Aquarius are on hand two days per week to help people who are affected
by their own or someone else’s alcohol abuse.
Aquarius can offer a long term solution to problem drinking once the first step
has been made. Aquarius has been successful in using the cross referral
mechanisms in the shop and many people benefit from the food bank and
financial advice from providers.
My Home Finance
My Home Finance is a social enterprise a fair alternative to profit making
lenders. All profits are put back into the business so that more people can
be helped.
My Home Finance was set up by the National Housing Federation it is supported by the Royal Bank
of Scotland. They are based in the shop 3 days per week.
NHS Quit Smoking
NHS Quit Smoking continues to make a huge impact on the lives of
smokers seeing over 3000 clients this year. NHS Quit Smoking is based at
the shop Monday to Saturday.
UK Online Centre
We are now a UK Online Centre and work with many to become computer literate this need has
become more prevalent now that benefit and housing applications are made online. We deliver
4 appointments per day for computer support and delivery of the l earn my way course. Many
more people receive support throughout the day through the
NTCP staff to set up email accounts and universal job match
accounts.
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City Save
City Save are a new addition to the service to the shop, we brokered this
partnership after the collapse of Communisave credit union. We gained
funding to purchase a City Save kiosk which allows people to apply for
accounts directly whilst providing other advice services such as Turn 2 Us and
benefit advice. 492 people have accessed the City Save kiosk.
National career Service
We receive 100s of referrals each year in to the National Careers Service, the
contractor for the local area is Prospects. They provide information, in a
confidential helpful and impartial manner.
They offer advice on learning and work issues helping with training and CV writing.
Bromford Support
Bromford Support has become an invaluable part of the makeup of the
shop. They provide extended support for people with housing, debt and
confidence issues. They have built up strong relationships with clients and
partners within the shop providing intensive support on a wide range of
issues.
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Projects and Events
Cycle South Brum
Northfield Town Centre Partnership and Northfield Eco Centre
worked together on this exciting new project to win the Peoples
Millions.
Cycle South Brum went head-to-head on television against
another project to win £50,000 to enable people to borrow free
bikes to get to work, get active or cycle as a family.
We delivered a high profile marketing campaign involving the
‘green people’ who became famous in their own right and
featured in local and national press and received radio
coverage on Free Radio who started their
own campaign on ‘who are the green
people?’.
We had the second highest number
of votes throughout the week and
were successful in securing the
£50,000
The project enables people to borrow bikes on a daily basis to
encourage leisure cycling and also on a longer-term basis, aimed at
commuters.
Free family and group cycle rides, training and confidence sessions, and bike
maintenance will also be on offer.
Improving health and wellbeing is a growing priority for the area
with nearly a quarter of local school children now leaving
primary school obese.
Cycling reduces congestion and carbon emissions, and
the project helps the many people who are struggling
with the rising costs of living and can no longer afford
public transport or to run a car.
The project is now going well, with many bikes being hired
on a daily basis.
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Culture Mash 2013
Northfield Town Centre Partnership received funding from Awards For
All, Community Chest, and Community First to deliver a
week-long event around various locations in
Northfield town centre.
Local community groups were invited to hold stalls to
demonstrate and promote their services
A range of cultural and performance events was held to engage local
families and young people in a range of diversionary activities.
NTCP worked with many community partners to develop the project ideas,
these included the Northfield Business Improvement District (BID), and older
people’s groups, Work in Progress Theatre Company, Circus Mash and local
schools and colleges.
Day of the Dragon
We worked with the Redditch Chinese Society to deliver a day of
oriental arts and crafts. Young people and families made paper
lanterns and calendars and learnt about the Chinese horoscopes.
They also made dragon masks and got to dance with a life size
dragon.
After the Event
After the event was supported by the Awards For All funding to work with a group of young
people ranging from 16-25 to develop an outside theatre piece called ‘After The Event’.
The piece contained various themes including, alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, youth
unemployment, bereavement and gang culture.
Young people created the script, designed the publicity, worked on the marketing and
evaluation of the event. Young people gained an enormous amount of skills from this piece of
the project including:
Admin/marketing
Event organisation
Arts
Networking
Promotion
Practical skills such as wood work/set design
Photography
The group worked for over 3 months to develop the piece which culminated in four performances
outside in the local town centre. These were attended by local MP Richard Burden, many
community groups and the general public. Through this work the group intends to carry on
meeting to develop the piece further and take part in a cultural exchange to Leizpeg in
Germany.
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Young people’s confidence and self-esteem grew as part of the process and one member of the
cast has found employment at the Alexandra Theatre. The group continue to meet and have
become involved with other local groups including the Northfield Arts Forum.
Circus mash
The circus element to the event worked with 8 young people to produce
a performance which was showcased at the event on the Sunday,
regular performances were held throughout the day. Young people
gained new skills including performance, photography, and agility
and helped to change the perception of young people in the local
area.
Young people were recruited from a range of backgrounds and were
engaged over a two week period before the performances.
Flash Mob
1930s flash mob performances were held around the town
working with DR. WEN and intergenerational groups. Groups
hid themselves amongst the crowds and when a particular
piece of music started they grouped together to deliver
dance performances. These groups learnt the dance over a
period of weeks with DR WEN.
This activity helped to bring older and younger members of the
community together building community cohesion and building new relationships.
Community Alley
There was a very well attended community alley where many different organisations including
Aquarius, NHS stop smoking service, the local CCG, Advance Employment, and Women’s Aid
engaged with members of the public to inform and publicise their important local services.
Music and performances
The Project was picked up by the Birmingham wide Esprito Brum festival and they sent drummers
and a Brazilian DJ to complement the project.
There were also live music days including a reggae day and 1960s day other performances were
made from Oyabatacuda samba band where they worked with local children to make drums
and perform alongside professional samba band members.
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Publicity
Over 10,000 people attended the week-long event and it was also
featured on Radio WM, Central News and in the Birmingham Mail.
Evaluation
Evaluation and feedback forms were collected throughout the week
and below are some of the comments.
"It's good to get the people of Northfield together and not everyone can afford to go
away on holiday"
"It's free with great activities for children and entertainment for adults"
"Excellent atmosphere and a fabulous event, which has brought the community together"
"It's what Northfield needs"
"Very interactive for children and keeps them busy and it's safe"
"Brilliant, opening people's eyes and bringing the community
together. Good for kids and free"
"Good family atmosphere, fantastic for families, especially if
can't afford to go away"
"Yes it's fantastic for the kids and community, and low cost -
so important. Please fund this again!"
"it was a fun and safe environment for me to bring children
to"
"Would like to see local businesses more involved, offering
discounts"
"Good for families, friendly and safe"
"Love the togetherness. All nationalities together enjoying this venue (every day). All
children playing happily together"
"Great way of making new friends and community to get together. Great chance for
children to socialise and interact"
"Something so different and day costs nothing. Children interacting met lots of people, very
friendly! Would seek out something like this again"
Impact
The event was a great success and made a huge impact to the lack of activities for low income
families in the local area, some of the volunteers who were engaged in the activities have carried
on to become regular volunteers at the NTCP shop and at other events.
The local CCG carried out community consultation activities collecting patient stories as part of
their big conversation agenda, these are used to feedback and inform local services making
patients experience more relevant. Since the event NTCP has developed a partnership with the
CCG to work closer together on health issues in the local community.
Northfield has suffered from a negative reputation and has been lacking in cultural activities for
many years, the culture mash festival has made a start to change these perceptions and put
Northfield on the map as a place where other people in Birmingham come to visit.
The festival also boosted footfall in the town centre and shopkeepers reported a rise in sales
during the week of the event.
The festival also built the social capital of residents in Northfield allowing them to take part in
community activities and cultural experiences that they would not normally be able to afford.
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Exemplar
Northfield Town centre partnership worked with 12 young
people aged between 16 and 24 to deliver a program of pre-
employment, using a Timebank as a mechanism to provide
the work anchor element.
The young people were from the Weoley ward of Northfield
which currently has the highest level of youth unemployment
in Birmingham.
CASE STUDY – JORDAN KELLY
The Kickstarts Programme recruited Jordan during a 4 day recruitment campaign in the
centre of Weoley Castle in January.
Jordan is aged 20 and had left school at 16 with few qualifications then had gone on to
college where he completed a construction course. Following college, Jordan had
applied for numerous jobs with no success and had been claiming JSA since October 2012.
He decided to join the Kickstarts Programme as was desperate to gain employment and
saw it as the possible breakthrough he needed.
When Jordan started the programme, it was evident that his confidence had been
knocked and that he lacked self-belief in his own abilities. It was apparent from the start
that he had the necessary skills to land him employment, he just lacked direction and
needed appropriate support to help him on his journey.
As the programme progressed, Jordan’s self-confidence began to flourish. He
demonstrated great organisational skills with a ‘can do’ approach to all workshops, team
building activities and tasks set. Throughout the two months, he showed great commitment
and a steely determination to succeed even when faced with challenges and at times low
group moral. His personal development skills increased and his supportiveness to other
group members was second to none. The main barrier Jordan had was job interviews and
even after completing interview technique workshops, he still lacked confidence in this
area. However, this was about to change – as part of the programme we had arranged
for each young person to attend a ‘mock’ interview with two local employers who would
give constructive feedback at the end. Although apprehensive, Jordan prepared as best
he could for the interview resulting in him receiving excellent feedback from the
interviewers (one even offered to help him find a job in their own organisation if he had no
success applying for apprenticeships). This was the much needed boost in confidence that
he needed and from this point on there was a definite shift in Jordan’s self- belief.
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Jordan (to the left) during ‘Walk the Job’ week
at Strip Tinning
I think the programme was the turning point for me really, before it I had lack of motivation and
self-belief in terms of finding employment. The fact that I could make new friends and still have fun
and have a good time whilst also learning a lot and developing my skills at the same time was
brilliant.
All the staff from Northfield Town Centre Partnership was wonderful and so supportive throughout
and even after the programme had finished. From when I started the programme up until the end
it was such a huge improvement for me, everything I wasn't sure about was resolved in an
outstanding way. I was so worried about how I would perform in an interview and I really thought I
would never be able to get a job, to then have positive feedback from mock interviews was a
massive boost in my confidence.
I think in February when we spent a few days at Northfield Eco centre that was vital in me gaining
my apprenticeship. It seemed like Georgia was impressed with me right from the start, then during
my work placement at the Visit Northfield shop, She spoke to me a little bit about the
apprenticeship and she seemed really keen for me to go for it. When I was shown the job
description I saw it as the ideal position for me and I saw it as a big opportunity to start off my
career path.
I am so thankful for the help and support I have received from Northfield Town Centre Partnership
and it is because of this that I have gained an apprenticeship.
Jordan was also a key member in creating a short DVD to raise awareness of knife crime,
which was showcased at The Factory Young People’s Centre at an event supported by
the local policing team and Fearless (part of UK charity Crimestoppers). This DVD will
continue to be used in youth centres delivering workshops around knife crime.
Northfield Eco Centre had approached Northfield Town Centre Partnership, as they
wanted to offer an apprenticeship to one of the young people we had been working with.
Having completed a three day placement with the Eco Centre, they had already
expressed an interest in Jordan, therefore he was encouraged to apply. Jordan was
shortlisted for interview and after plenty of preparation he learnt that he had been
successful in gaining the apprenticeship. Jordan was thrilled as this was his first break into
employment and it also included working with bikes (which is his hobby). Jordan’s mum
was equally happy and even brought in a gift to thank us for supporting Jordan
throughout the programme.
Jordan commenced his apprenticeship on Monday 7th April 2014
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Time Bank
Overall aim
To raise the level of community engagement and learning with residents from the Northfield
District, and addressing the significant gaps in health, worklessness and opportunities for cultural
and social learning.
Summary
Time to Learn ran from September 2012 to the end of July
2013.This work was funded as part of NIACE’s Community
Learning Innovation Fund (CLIF), funded by the Skills Funding
Agency. Participants were engaged in the Northfield District,
which encompasses the Northfield, Kings Norton, Weoley and
Longbridge Wards.
Time to Learn was led by Northfield Town Centre Partnership (NTCP) who, in partnership with
Northfield Ecocentre, made up the steering group of Time to Learn.
Time to Learn was developed by NTCP as a mechanism of engaging hard-to-reach groups; these
included low income families, isolated elderly people, those in financial crisis and those with
mental health problems.
Volunteers were engaged in a range of Time Banking opportunities to promote community
learning, health benefits, increase employability, increase voluntary opportunities and increase
cultural capital by:
Developing a Time Bank to increase knowledge, training and skills
Developing a community garden, including environmental projects and opportunities for
social enterprise
Delivering family learning days to build learning opportunities for low income families
Providing intergenerational activities to increase community cohesion and harness
transferable skills
Increasing leisure activities
Creating work experience opportunities through the functions of the Time Bank, Northfield
Business Improvement District and partner projects
Summary findings
In total the Time Bank total of members was 477. They were
supported to develop individual exchanges and projects,
and in total 4675 hours were banked.
The Time Bank has only been funded for a ten-month
period, but in that time it has made a big impact in the
local community and wider south Birmingham area.
Time Banking is being highlighted as a new method and way
of working, and as a tool for social change. The Time Bank has
been asked to contribute to the ‘Making Birmingham an Inclusive
City’ paper, and is being recognised by key partners, such as Birmingham South Central Clinical
Commission Group (CCG), as a way to engage service users in meaningful practice.
Core activities
The project’s four core activities were:
Establishment of a Time Bank hub
Development of a community garden and harvest project
Deliver a programme of intergenerational projects reflecting community history
Family learning activities
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Innovation and organisational learning
Innovation was a key focus of the Time to Learn project, with organisations, members and learners
learning how to share skills and do things in a different way. Bringing many different people
together to exchange ideas and learn from one another was new as professionals, ex-offenders;
probation officers etc. had a forum to share key issues in the community.
To exchange skills and use Time Bank hours for social opportunities is also a new concept, with the
value being shifted from monetary terms to skills that everyone possesses.
Also the work that we have done with other organisations to time bank our own resources has
been endorsed by local councillors, the MP and many community organisations, as it is a way to
respond to collectively to the cuts in services that are affecting our community.
Time Bank members reported:
Increased self esteem
Less isolation
Improved physical health
Improved acceptance of people with long term mental health issues.
Increased commitment to further learning
Increased employability
Increased sense of engagement with the community
Increased friendships
Increased access to the arts and community events
Increased family learning and sharing skills
Feeling part of something
Increased confidence
In taking next steps into formal learning opportunities, members reported:
Greater tolerance of younger people by older members of the
community
Increased computer literacy amongst benefit-dependent people
A voice for local people on housing issues and redevelopment of
their community facilities
Enhanced CVs, aspirations and social capital through work-based
volunteering placements
Time to Learn made a difference to the Northfield community by:
Providing enhanced community facilities
Greater opportunities for community learning
A community garden
A variety of no-cost community activities and events
Development of Northfield as a place to hold cultural
festivals and events
Improved community cohesion through acceptance of
community members’ age, ethnicity and background
Older people’s groups
Computer literacy for the wider community, addressing the significant pressure and drain
on resources that the welfare reform is bringing
The development of a residents’ group giving greater co-operation between Bromford
Housing Association clients and housing managers
Mechanisms for people to have a voice on local health issues
Putting Northfield in the public eye through a range of high profile media opportunities
including television coverage twice, radio interviews and several newspaper articles
Befriending scheme developed by Wychall Farm Family Club, subsidising provision for older
people who are housebound
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Case Study - Time Bank Member
Question: How did you get involved in the Time Bank?
Answer: I was actually on Face Book and Rebecca Debenham read my comments and
responded to me by asking if I would like to volunteer with NTCP.
Question: What did you feel about being asked to volunteer?
Answer: My first feelings were that it wasn’t for me. I associated volunteering with [for
example] working in a charity shop. I didn’t see why anyone would work for nothing. But
Rebecca talked me through what opportunities were available and I decided to give it a
try.
Question: What were you doing before joining the Time Bank?
Answer: I had been doing an Open University course in Childhood and Family as I am
interested in this from a domestic abuse perspective. However, I have not been able to
continue with my course and was keen to get involved in a practical way in anything that
might help me further my ambitions. I feel that when I was younger that I had no-one to
guide me and show me what direction to follow and that a lot of young people today are in
this position. I would like to help them and share my experience in order to give them more
opportunities. I have a three year old son and I want to show him that it is possible to work
hard and improve our lives so that he knows that he can do anything he wishes in his life.
Question: What would you say are your aims by volunteering?
Answer: I want to build my confidence and find out what skills I do have so I can develop
them. I also want to learn new skills.
Question: What have you got out of Time Bank so far?
Answer: I have done an IT course which has helped me lot. I have been developing IT skills,
people skills and organisational skills. One example is that I have learnt about sending emails.
I am doing a Food Hygiene course which will help me as I would love to have my own
catering business. I am used to cooking and have worked a lot in catering outlets so would
love to put these skills into my own business.
I have been able to exchange some of my voluntary hours for childcare for my son. This has
been fantastic as he has benefitted from this as well as me. In the short time he has been
going, I can really see how he has changed by mixing with other children and learning to
socialise.
Question: What are you enjoying about the volunteering you are doing?
Answer: I am enjoying it because it is ‘pushing me’. I enjoy meeting new people, learning
about myself and finding that I can stick at things and achieve something worthwhile. In
fact, it is proving to me that I am worthwhile because people are putting their trust in me
which is encouraging me to do even more.
Question: What are you doing at the moment for the Time Bank?
Answer: I am helping to organise an event to officially launch Time Bank. This has helped me
to put what I have learned from the IT training into practice. I am also learning loads about
organisation of events and I can’t believe what I have achieved so far.
Question: Finally – how would you sum up your volunteering experience so far with Time
Bank?
Answer: It is totally different to what I expected and it has given me lots of opportunities to
develop and learn new skills. It has definitely come up to my expectations and I now feel
more confident about myself and my career path.
19
Other Side of the Door
This group was formed as a result of a photographic activity early on in
the Time Bank project. Members of the community were given a short
photographic course and also went out and about in the community
taking photographs. They enjoyed the
course a great deal and also
bonded as a group, so decided
to continue to meet as an
intergenerational group.
The Group got there name because of one member’s experience:
Other Side of the Door have taken part in many community activities like the Northfield Carnival
and has tried many activities including:
Painting
Creative writing
Card making
Knitting
Collage
Photography
Family history
The group is now constituted in its own right and has started to apply for funding with the support
of Northfield Town Centre Partnership.
“I originally moved to Northfield about five years and I actually live in a care home, Thomas
Pocklington, a home for people with sight loss or sight problems.
The main reason for coming here was with my husband was very disabled and I was finding I
couldn’t cope. Unfortunately my husband died about 6 weeks before we were due to move. My
son asked what I wanted to do and I thought: ‘if I was unwell there is someone there, I don’t have
to fetch my son out in the middle of the night because I’m unwell or ill, so I’ll live at Pocklington’.
I also help and volunteer with the stroke group we try to take people out as much as possible, last
week zimmer frames, sticks and hobbling we went to play bowls and they loved it!
Oh and this group, well the photography, I love photography and also met some new friend and it
keeps the old grey matter working. You’ve got to do and stay involved. My kids say ‘mother you’re
not going out again?!’ well life is the other side of the door and not sitting in watching the telly.”
20
Bromford Community engagement project NTCP were commissioned by Bromford Housing Association to
engage local residents in a range of community initiatives with
the aim to: .
Enable tenants to become more self-reliant
Take pride and ownership of the areas that they live in
Improve community safety and levels of anti-social behaviour of
tenants
Implement an information point and mentor in each area.
So far we have worked in 3 different areas, Fox hollows in Longbridge, Catshill in Bromsgrove and
Bromford Dell in Northfield.
Fox hollows worked to create a community garden and residents group, young people were
engaged in a young time bank swapping their volunteer hours for rewards from the time bank.
Bromford have reported a downfall in anti-social behaviour since the scheme has been set up.
The adults have formed a resident group and now apply for funding in their own right with support
from NTCP staff.
21
Marketing and Media Marketing and social media has become an integral part of Northfield Town Centre Partnerships
success and helps to build our profile in the local community but also further afield in the wider
Birmingham area.
During the past year by far our highest profile media campaign was our work to win the peoples
millions for Cycle South Brum which involved green people. The campaign led to press coverage
from the Daily Mirror, Birmingham Mail and several local papers. We also featured on Free Radios
morning breakfast show, and gained a huge following on Facebook where people shared and
followed the sightings of the green people.
We have also been interviewed on Midlands today to cover our food bank and the impact on
families of welfare reform.
As part of our time bank project we were asked to appear on Carl Chinns Breakfast program to
discuss the importance of community learning.
Central News delivered the weather from the Beach and we were interviewed to promote our
community events.
22
End of Year Finance
The Coming Year
Areas for development during the coming year
To gain charitable status and re launch the organisation to reflect the wider work of
the partnership and enable the charity to access different funding streams
To continue to develop our offer to young people through a range of services and
employment opportunities.
To develop a robust funding strategy to create sustainability for the second period of
our operation whilst lottery funded.
To develop closer opportunities for employment through the Northfield BID.
To continue to develop our work on food poverty with Northfield Eco Centre and
Northfield Baptist Church
To achieve 100 % rentals for the lettings of the shop.
To develop social enterprise opportunities for young people